From The Perspective Of A Player

VII: The thing about liking a friend.

This is not my best chapter, I feel like I should delete it (it's cringe-worthy and I'll probably rewrite when I know how feelings work). Try to enjoy y'all.

The thing about being friends with the opposite gender or with the gender you're attracted to is that, at a point, you'll find yourself looking at them with this knot in your stomach. Now, this might last for a week or it might develop to something popular like crush. We can't deny this sudden attraction nor can we avoid it.

Alex can't tell how it started was it at her mom's memorial, or the first time she visited his house, or was it the fact that she always cheers him up when he feels down or was it the sudden late-night chats, or was it the camp trip or the urge to roll his eyes and pout when he sees her with other guys?

"Alex, look at my crush, isn't he dreamy?" Or maybe it was that.

"Crush?" He stared at the supposed crush, he was taller than Alex sure, he was friendlier and bolder than Alex, judging from the people that surrounded him, definitely.

"What do you like about him? He's not handsome and he talks too much, he looks like he's taking a shit as- "

"First of all, he's handsome. I mean look at his cheekbones." She said staring at him dreamily.

"What are cheekbones? Never heard of it." He folded his arms as he rested on his locker and continued glancing at her and her crush.

"You don't know what cheekbones are? Are you messing with me?" She scoffed as he shook his head slowly, scratching the back of his head and hoping she believes his lie, "you know I know you're lying right?"

"Whatever, those cheekbones are just signs that he needs to eat more."

"You also have cheekbones, Don't be such a hater." She said still staring at her crush as she smiled at Alex's reaction.

"I'm going to the library." He said pulling a book from the locker and walking towards the opposite direction.

"Why are you pouting, boo?" Ray asked wearing an oversized knitted sweater.

"Stop calling me boo, it's weird. Rachel apparently has a crush, another weird thing." He muttered not looking away from his book.

"I know. God, it's like she's going crazy." Max voiced solving some physics equations.

"How do you know?"

"We were in the hallway together last week and he smiled at her, she gripped me like a three-year-old that can't let go of his mother." He shuddered at the memory.

"Totally not the point but out of curiosity, why were you in the hallway together?"

"Same reason, you're asking me that irrelevant question," Max replied with a straight face.

"You don't have to be rude about it." He rolled his pen on the table with a small frown.

"She's not my type, just putting that out there." Ray shrugged pulling a lollipop out his bag to lick it.

"Just putting this out there, you're not her type." Max scoffed gesturing at his oversized sweater.

"I'm cute, aren't I" Ray winked at Alex making him scrunch his face in disgust.

"Oh look, there's Jeremy, saving me from this weirdness," Max announced as he smiled as he waved at a wall.

"It's a signal for shut up," Ray whispered as he focused on his poems and lollipop.

~•~

"That makes two?" Nathan asked drinking his smoothie.

"Two? No, just one." Rachel shrugged after shaking her head.